Tale as old as Time
by penguibunny
Summary: Rose is a young woman running away from her past. The Doctor is an old man living in misery. What happens when they meet? Beauty and the Beast theme. Rose/9
1. Chapter 1

_**I don't own Doctor Who or Beauty and the Beast.**_

Rose was riding through the woods. She had brought all of her belongings with her. She was never going back to that village. Not while he was there. Rose reached a large mansion. Its gates were wide open. It had started to snow and it was getting colder, so Rose decided to see if she could spend the night there. The stable was also open, so she put her horse in there.

She knocked on the door. When no one answered, Rose opened the door and went inside. "Hello?" She asked. "Is anyone home?" All of a sudden, a woman came through one of the doors. "Hello!" She said. "What did you stop by for?" "I was wondering if I can find a place to stay for tonight." Rose answered. "I'll have to ask the Doctor." The woman replied. Rose was confused. "Who is the Doctor?" She asked.

"The Doctor is the Lord of this house." The woman replied. "I am the housekeeper, Sara Jane Smith." "Could you please ask the doctor if I could stay here?" Rose asked. "It's starting to snow and I would like to be somewhere warm Miss Smith." "I'll go and ask him immediately." The housekeeper said. "And it's Sara Jane. What's your name?" "I'm Rose." She answered. Sara Jane smiled. "What a lovely name!" She said.

"I'll go and alert him of your presence right away. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." she left the room leaving Rose alone in the room. She sat down in one of the chairs. While she was waiting, Rose heard a sound. A teenage boy entered the room. "Mom!" He was shouting. He saw Rose sitting on a chair. He continued to shout. "There's a girl in the mansion!" Sarah Jane came back into the room.

"I know!" She said. "I went to go get the Doctor." A man came out from behind her. He was terribly ugly. "You may stay here as long as you like." The Doctor said. Rose smiled, despite his ugliness. "Thank you." she said. "I don't plan on leaving for a while." "That's fine." He said. "You are free to explore the mansion, except for the west wing. it is forbidden." He then left.

 _ **I hope you enjoyed! Please review!**_


	2. Chapter 2

"I'll show you to your room." Sarah Jane said. "By the way, this is my son Luke." "Hi." Luke said. "It's nice to meet you." Rose replied. "It's nice to meet you too." He said. He left the room. Sarah Jane led Rose to her room. It was a very nice room. It had a large bed, a dresser, a nightstand, a mirror, and a large bathroom. "Will you be needing anything else?" Sarah Jane asked. Rose shook her head.

"Alright then." The housekeeper said. "By the way, the Doctor wants to have dinner with you." Sarah Jane was about to leave when Rose asked, " I actually, "Could you get me a fairy tale book?" The housekeeper nodded and left the promptly returned with a book in her hand. " I found Cinderella." Sarah Jane said. "Thank you!" Rose said happily. Now she would have something to do other than stare at the wall.

The housekeeper left and Rose started to read. When she'd finished, she thought that a quick nap couldn't hurt. She fell asleep. Rose woke up to knocking at her door. "Come in." She said. A tall ginger woman walked into the room. "The Doctor told me to tell you that it's time for dinner." She said. "I'm Donna by the way." Rose said, "I'm Rose."

"I'm here to help you get ready." Donna said. She opened the dresser and there were hundreds of dresses in there. Rose chose one that was a beautiful shade of pink. Donna helped her with her hair and makeup. She put Rose's hair in a bun. "You look beautiful!" Donna said. Rose smiled. "Thank you!" She said.

Donna escorted her to the dining table. The Doctor was already there and he stood up when he saw Rose. "Blimey! You look beautiful!" He said in awe. Rose smiled and blushed. They both sat down. "Good evening Doctor." She said. "Good evening Rose." Was his reply. "What's for dinner?" She asked. "Chicken." Was the answer.

She took a bite. "It's delicious!" Rose exclaimed. "Who made it?" "I don't know." The Doctor answered. He took a bite as well and agreed that it was very well tasting. Sarah Jane was passing the dining room. "Who made the dinner?" He asked her. "I did." She answered. "It was wonderful!" Both the Doctor and Rose said. "Thank you!" The housekeeper said. She left and they finished eating.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner." Rose said as she stood up to leave. "Thank you for gracing me with your lovely presence." The Doctor said, standing up as well. Rose went back to her room and promptly fell asleep.

 _ **Hope you enjoyed! Please review!**_


	3. Chapter 3

When she woke up, the sun was just coming up. She decided to get up and explore the mansion. After a bit of searching, she found the library. She spent two hours in there and then decided to go to the west wing. She was curious as what was there and why he didn't want her to be there. Rose went there and found there a lovely rose. She reached out to touch it. "All of a sudden, the Doctor was there.

"Didn't I tell you that the west wing was forbidden?" He shouted. She ran. Rose took her horse and took off. It wasn't long till she met some wolves. They attacked her and were going to bite her, if the doctor hadn't come to her rescue. He fought off the wolves, but was hurt in the process.

Rose put him on her horse and took him back. Later, as she was nursing his wounds, the Doctor said, "This is your fault you know. If you hadn't run away, this never would have happened." "Maybe if you hadn't scared me, I wouldn't have run away." "You shouldn't have been in the west wing!" "You should learn to control your temper!" There was a short pause, then Rose added in a softer tone, "By the way, thank you for saving my life."


	4. Chapter 4

For the next few weeks, the Doctor gave Rose some space. He figured that he'd scared her enough and thought it best to leave her alone. Rose didn't like arrangement. While they still ate dinner together, she missed his warm, fierce yet gentle presence. She wasn't very lonely, though. She'd become great friends with Luke, the housekeeper's son, and they spent a lot of time together.

One day, as they were both climbing in a large tree in the garden that they had claimed as their own, Rose asked Luke, "What's the deal with the rose in the west wing?" Luke nearly fell out of the tree. When he regained his balance, he told her, "I'm not supposed to talk about it." Rose looked at him, puzzled. "Why ever not?" She asked. "I'm not sure, but Mom told me not to." Rose was still a bit confused but she let it go. Everyone had secrets. The reason she came here was a secret; one that she hoped she would never tell.

There were a few days, however, that were really lonely. Days when Luke had to work in the kitchens or was busy with other things. On those days, Rose sat in the library for hours. She wasn't reading, but thinking. She would try to pick up a book, but would soon get bored of it and put it down. She was thinking of the secret, the one that forced her to come here. She would think until tears filled her eyes. Rose finally could no longer stand just thinking. She got up to explore the castle and find someone to talk to. If she could be distracted, she wouldn't dwell on the past.

The servants in the mansion never seemed to be around unless you needed them. How Rose needed one of them now! "Hello!" A voice that seemed to come from nowhere rang out. She jumped, startled. "Sorry to frighten you." The voice told her apologetically. "I'm over here." Rose turned to follow the voice. She saw a door that was partly opened and opened it slowly. "Hi!" A tall, long-haired ginger who was not Donna smiled at her."Hello!" Rose said pleasantly. "Who are you?" "I'm Amy." The girl said. "I know who you are. Everybody does now."


	5. Chapter 5

"You want to see something amazing?" The fiery-headed woman asked her, thrusting her hand to Rose. Rose's eyes lit up. "I'd love to." She replied, taking Amy's hand. Amy gave her a huge smile and they raced up the stairs. "Slow down!" "I can't! Or else we'll miss it." When they reached the top of the stairs, Rose was out of breath. "Look!" Her new friend exclaimed. She looked and saw the most spectacular sunset: The sun was burning orange amidst purples and pinks and blue above.

Rose just stood there on the roof, speechless. Amy smirked. "Knew you'd like it." As the sun went under the horizon, Rose began to observe her surroundings. It was a large balcony on the top of the roof. "What is this place?" She asked. "The greatest place for seeing sunrises or sunsets," Amy told her. "If you turn around," she said, turning around and pointing, "you can see the sunrise in the morning." Rose kept staring at the purples and pinks left behind by the sun and Amy leaned over the bar, smiling at her new-found friend.

"I come up here to clear my thoughts." She said, looking out at the horizon with a dreamy expression on her face. "It's the most relaxing place in the mansion that doesn't put me to sleep like the library or the lounge." Rose nodded. "It is quite calming." "No one else knows about this place, except you, me, and my friend Rory. Not even the Doctor knows about it. Rory's the gardener." "I've seen him," Rose replied. "Isn't he a bit cute?" Amy shrugged They stood there until it became quite dark and they could see the stars. Rose yawned. "Shouldn't we be going to bed now?" She asked Amy. "You go ahead." She said, not looking away from the stars. "I'll catch up."

Rose slowly and quietly came down the stairs so she wouldn't disturb anyone. She found herself heading toward the garden. She climbed up the big tree and looked at the stars again. "Lovely, aren't they?" A voice asked. Rose was so surprised, she fell out of the tree


	6. Chapter 6

A clumsy teenager caught her, held her for a second, then crumbled under her weight. They were on the ground, laughing. "Luke!" Rose exclaimed. "Hi, Rose." He replied, looking deep into her eyes, falling even deeper in love with her. For a moment, they stared at each other. Rose laughed and Luke thought she was going to say something meaningful and romantic. "Luke," she began. "Yes?" He replied eagerly. "Are you going to let me go?"

Luke quickly let her go and stood up; his cheeks bright red. "Err, sorry." He apologized, taking her hand to help her hand. Her skin was soft and cool. "It's alright." He wasn't sure what to say. "Um, sorry for scaring you," He told her. Rose smiled and waved it away. She took his hand and they climbed back up the tree. They stared at the stars for a few more minutes, when Rose asked, "Can I tell you a secret?" Luke nodded. "Let's get down first." The climbed down the tree and they sat under it.

"You have to promise-" She began. "You can't tell anyone. Not your mother, not the Doctor, no one." "Course I won't!" Luke replied, taking her hand. She smiled at him, a small, beautiful, sad smile that he adored. "When I was in the village that I grew up in, there was this boy, the baker's son. Who would have that he would become the best hunter in the town? His name was Edward and all the girls adored him. Except me. Of course, he wanted the only thing he couldn't have; me. He asked for my hand repeatedly. After I refused so many times, he wouldn't take no for an answer anymore. He stormed into the house where I lived alone and..."

Rose started sobbing. Luke hugged her, but he wasn't quite sure what Edward had done to her. He was a smart boy, but still an innocent. "Did he rob you?" He asked when the sobbing died down. She stopped crying, took a breath and stated, "In a way. He robbed me of my virginity." All of a sudden, Luke knew what had happened and was a little less innocent. He continued to hold her and slowly rocked her back and forth.

"That's why you ran away?" Luke asked, breaking the silence. Rose shook her head. She caught her breath. "I tried to tell the people what he did, but nobody believed me. How could perfect Edward do anything like that? I stayed until I realized something." She stopped. Luke waited, but she didn't say anything. "What did you realize?" He asked softly. "That I was expecting."


End file.
